33 chapter 33

Toyo found himself stunned at the sight of such a sword. He was even more stunned when Naomi held it out to him.

\"It's for you.\" She said bluntly.

Toyo looked up at her in confusion as she stood in front of him.

\"What do you mean its for me? Why?\"

Sighing, Naomi brandished the sword at him impatiently.

Toyo furrowed his brow. \"I'm not taking your sword from you, Naomi.\"

Looking genuinely amused, Naomi flashed a look at him that suddenly made him feel like a child who had just said something completely absurd.

\"I don't even use swords, dummy. I use an axe and shield. I picked this up after I beat a quest, and since I don't use swords, I was going to sell it until I remembered you were still using the beginner's sword.\" she shrugged. \"Consider this my apology for putting the two of you in danger.\"

Toyo waved his hand, refuting the notion. \"You didn't put us in any danger. It was an easy quest, just like you said. You don't owe us anything, Naomi. You should sell it, you'll probably get a great-\"

\"You either take the sword or I continue feeling like shit for what I know I did to you two.\" Naomi's face was stone.

Seeing he wasn't going to change her mind, Toyo glanced over her shoulder at Jae.

\"A little help here?\"

Jae offered an apologetic shrug. \"I don't know dude, I don't think she's backing down. I think you should just take the sword.\"

Sighing loudly, Toyo gave Naomi one last look. \"I'm not going to be happy about this.\"

\"And I'm not going to care.\" she replied cheerfully.

He couldn't help but smile. I like this girl.

Throwing up his arms helplessly, Toyo took the sword. Examining it, he could see that it was called Silverthorne. Lengthy and elegant, the blade had better reach than the average one hander. With a considerable attack speed boost and dealing almost twice the damage of Jae's rare spear, the sword was easily the best weapon Toyo had seen so far in SAO. He could only imagine what kind of axe Naomi had that kept her from using Silverthorne.

Holding the sword straight out in front of him, Toyo grinned at the perfect balance and weight. And then, just as quickly as it had come, his smile faded.

Naomi frowned. \"What's wrong now\"

Toyo patted the pommel of the sword at his belt.

\"I just bought this from Norran. Not even an hour ago.\" He shook his head bitterly. \"Such a waste of money.\"

Naomi nodded empathetically. \"That's just bad luck right there.\"

Jae, who was now sitting at the table with his stat screen up, chuckled aloud as he said, \"Yeah, Is's bad luck in games is something of a legend at this point.\"

\"Is?\" Naomi looked at Toyo. \"Is that your nickname?\"

\"Trust me,\" Toyo answered, \"It's better than Is Real.\"

Giggling, Naomi went over to the table, sitting opposite Jae. Silence enveloped the room for a moment as she accessed her inventory screen, taking off her leather armor and replacing her boots with socks. Finished with her adjustments, Naomi leaned back in her chair as she stared into the fire.

\"This is a nice room you guys have. Better than the ones in the town I stay at.\"

Toyo snorted. \"Costs a fucking fortune just to stay another night though. And it's too small.\"

\"What town do you stay at, if you don't mind me asking of course?\" Jae asked.

Naomi smiled pleasantly. \"No not at all. I've been staying at Tolbana for around a week now.\"

\"Tolbana?\" Jae suddenly sat upright. \"So you know about the meeting that's supposed to be going down there tomorrow?\"

Naomi nodded. \"The meeting is for real. Most of the strongest players so far, around forty or so, are going to raid the Labyrinth and fight the Floor 1 Boss.\"

Jae looked over his shoulder enthusiastically at Toyo, who was still sitting on the bed.

\"We need to be at that meeting tomorrow. We can help them.\"

Toyo hesitated. \"Help them? It sounds to me like they got it all under control.\"